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Friday, January 25, 2013

Arjac Rockfist RETURNS!!!

Arjac has returned! Actually this is the second model I have done for this, and I cannot say it was any easier than the first actually :) But it was a bit more fun as I tried out a few more techniques on it, primarily Oil paints!

So after finishing the Space Wolf commission a few weeks back, I was approached by a local gamer asking if I would paint up another Arjac model. In as close to the same scheme as possible even. And being the cool guy that I am, I said yes. Even though I have had a ton more on my plate as of late.

Although the deadline for this is not until end of the first week of February, I know how bad that month is going to be for me. With that in mind, I got to work on it in between other topics ( soon to be revealed! ).

What makes this a bit different from the last one is that I know more or less what goes where on this model, and where the details were that needed attention. Thanks to working on it before. Repetition is key here folks, I can never stress that enough!

Though the other differences here is that, as stated, I used Oil Paints for the first time on this model. Ok Ok, yes, I can hear some of you saying "But Mr. Lee, how can you test out something new on a commission?" Actually.. I do this all the time, and usually it comes out great and I learn something new for future commissions. Worst case, it bombs, and I redo the model. Either way, win/win for the client and me as I learn something new, and the client gets something extra on their model. It is why I ask for a bit more artistic freedom with my commissions, to allow for this. Otherwise, it just turns into work, and who needs more of that? Am I right? :)

So as stated I used Oils, and what I found out with using them is that you really need to thin them to the perfect level to make them work. Too much, and it is just water, too little and well it may as well be mud on the model. Or at least that is what was happening to me.

So first step was to paint the model. Done. Then it was off to varnish the model in gloss or satin varnish. I went with satin as I like the look it gives better. From here, we have a nice base that we can apply Oil colors, and if we make a mistake, can remove said Oil colors with more White Spirit or Thinner. So the risk really is quite small. Or at least smaller than some of my experiments :)

The technique that I saw was of 2 kinds. One was to let it seem into the crevices of the model. That was simple enough, and with the black color, it gave instant shadows and black lining on the models. The other style was basically to just slather it all over the model, and then clean it up with white spirits.

Now this second style, was interesting, but instead of just giving it an Oil wash, I decided to do a bit more controlled wash with the oils. And I really liked how it came out. It helped to add shadows easier than with acrylics, and the brown oil paint gave some wear and tear over the feet and bolts.

You can see how it looks more on the back of this model. Especially at the top of the back, and around the back of the legs. They really added to the model, and to the contrasts I was going for here.

With these tests though, I can safely say that my marine painting will get a bit more interesting. And considering that I have a lot of marines in and around the tables these days, I will be using this technique a lot in the coming months.

Only other thing to say is that the base was also the client's request. He really likes my lava scheme it seems, and wanted Arjac on said basing. So this is a test base. If he likes it, then we will keep it. If not, then I will look at a normal regular base for Arjac to stand on.

So there you have it.. hope you like the model as much as I do. I am still experimenting with the photos bit, but am getting closer to something that I like and helps to show off the true colors of what I am doing.

Also as stated, I have been working on this while working on other projects. Most of which cannot be shown until they are OK'd by the judges over at Massive Voodoo for their Bananalicious painting competition. I really cannot wait to be able to post them up and show everyone. I have shown parts of 2 projects to be entered, but 2 pieces are brand new. And all are in styles that I have not tried before so looking forward to the comments and replies on how they do.

Agreed there are some mold lines, and this was after working on it for a while :( Though not so much mold lines as they are pits and shifts in the model itself. And the hammer is bent more towards a straight line than it was originally before working on it :( Such is the life of Failcast models.

So I took what I could for model prep here to make a failed model look halfway decent. At least the paint job looks good, but I can honestly say after working on a number of Failcast models, that this stuff is not meant for true display purposes.